In this project, students compare the properties of a range of fabrics made from different fibres. The fabrics could be woven or knitted and they could be made from natural fibres such as cotton and wool or synthetic fibres such as nylon. Students should investigate physical properties, such as strength,  tear...

Alan Cucknell's job consists of finding new and innovative ways to make their clients' products stand out from the crowd. This...

Jai Geyer, one of the youngest members of the Great Britain Alpine Ski Team, describes how engineering impacts on his sport and helps achieve higher levels of performance through the design of protective clothing, plus the structure and composition of the skis and other equipment.

A range of Nuffield Foundation resources for students to develop and reveal their capability, longer more open tasks requiring designing, making and evaluating are necessary. Sometimes these activities are referred to as projects, or design and making assignments. In Nuffield Design and Technology these are called...

A selection of chooser charts developed by the Nuffield Foundation, focusing on designing at Key Stage Four to help students make decisions about approaches to take for strategy and communication. Tasks are available for Key Stage Four in electronic products, food technology, graphics products, product design and...

A set of Key Stage Four Nuffield Foundation capability tasks focusing on the design, making and evaluation of textile products.

For students to develop and reveal their capability longer more open tasks requiring designing, making and evaluating are necessary. Sometimes these activities are referred to as...

A set of Key Stage Four Nuffield Foundation chooser charts focusing on textiles. Chooser charts help students make decisions about approaches to take for strategy and communication. The chooser charts are particularly useful when students are tackling open-ended projects, such as capability tasks.

A set of Key Stage Four Nuffield Foundation resource tasks focusing on textiles.

Resource tasks are short, practical focused, activities designed to teach the resources for capability in a way which should intrigue and amuse students.

This Topic Brief was published as part of the ASE’s LAMP Project. This unit was developed from work carried out with non-academic boys and girls in the age range 14 to 16 years. It was tried with some success on groups of between 12 and 15 in an urban comprehensive school of 1750 pupils. The average reading age of...

This resource describes how to make a brooch which uses a magnetic switch to holds it in place on the garment to turn on the LED. The magnetic switch is stitched into one side of the circuit. When the magnet is attached to the switch this joins the circuit making the LED switch on. When the magnet is taken away...

This project shows how to embellish a skirt with buttons and embroidered flowers enhanced with LEDs in the centre of each flower. It uses a metal zip as an on/off switch so that when the zip is open the LEDs are off and when it is closed they come on. Each flower is made up of a lazy daisy embroidery stitch with a...

This set of course materials from the National STEM Learning Centre and Network were designed to build an understanding of how electronics can be combined with textiles at Key Stage Three, starting with simple circuits and leading to more complex programming and effects...

In this activity, students investigate the uses of materials and fabrics in medical applications, such as pressure bandages for burns injuries and anti-embolism stockings for deep vein thrombosis. The students make their own pressure sensor using different types of fabric. They then calibrate their sensor and...